Had they done that, when the controls jammed, they would have been
able to glide down into a vacant field, it was demonstrated. The
machine was badly damaged, though it was not beyond repair.
"And that's the last time I'm ever going to be soft with a Hun, you
can make up your mind to that," declared Tom to Jack. "If I'd sat
on him hard when I saw he was getting too low over the village, it
wouldn't have happened. But I didn't want him to think I knew it
all, and I thought I'd take a chance and let him pull his own
chestnuts out of the fire. But never again!"
"'Tisn't safe," agreed Jack. He was rapidly improving, so much so
that he was able to fly the next week, and he and Tom went up
together, and did some valuable scouting work for the American army.
At times they found opportunity to take short trips to Paris, where
they saw Nellie and Bessie, and were entertained by Mrs. Gleason.
Nellie was eager for some word from her brother, but none came.
Whether the packages dropped by Tom and Jack reached the prisoner
was known only to the Germans, and they did not tell.
But the daring plan undertaken by the two air service boys was soon
known a long way up and down the Allied battle line, and more than
one aviator tried to duplicate it, so that friends or comrades who
were held by the Huns might receive some comforts, and know they
were not forgotten. Some of the Allied birdmen paid the penalty of
death for their daring, but others reported that they had dropped
packages within the prison camps, though whether those for whom they
were intended received them or not, was not certain.
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